If you give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster do they have to give you a copy?

Question

The insurance ajuster of the person that re-ended me recorded my statement and I want a copy. do they have to give me one?

Answer 1

Never fails to amaze me the difference between insurance adjusters. I am an adjuster/manager for an independent insurance adjusting company. If someone gives us a recorded statement, and they want a copy, we duplicate for them.Way back when all statements were written, they were done on 3 part forms, one for the insurance company, one for the adjuster, and one for the person who gave the statement. After all, it is your recording as much as ours, and just part of the investigative process. We do, however, check with the insruance carrier first, if you request the copy after we have left your location.

Now, if we have already sent on to the insurance carrier, we may have to ask for it to be returned so we can duplicate it.

I've never heard of a company refusing to give you a copy of your statement. Other statements (witnesses, etc) are not yours and therefore you aren't entitled. In the state where I work, the statements are not considered attorney's work product, unless specifically that claim has been monitored by an attorney, and you are investigating based on that attorney's instructions.

Answer 2

First of all, I would not give a voluntary recorded statement to any insurance adjuster. The reason for recording you is to trip you up if the accident ends up in a lawsuit.

If you were rear-ended, the accident fault lies with the other person, so you should not have much to say on that issue.

I am not sure of the legality of requiring them to give you a copy.
You may have already surrendered that right by speaking to them in the first place.

Answer 3

No. The insurance company considers this proprietary information.

Taking recorded statements is nothing to be worried about, as long as the truth is told. The adjuster needs to make sure that he or she has has done a thorough investigation of the circumstances involved in the accident. It is a requirement to do so, before any payment recommendation is made.

Answer 4

No we do not give you a copy. In fact it is considered part of your claims file we often would not even give it to an attorney. That is how my company does it.

I would not worry, it is standard protocol to get a recorded statement from each person in a loss.

You don't have to give a statement about the facts of loss but it could slow down the liability investigation.

Answer 5

I have never known one to refuse when the person asks. The angry, belligerant, or uptight may need to get their lawyer to do the asking though--the adjuster doesn't talk to lawyers and picky people need to do the extra steps to make sure there is a record of distrust for the management's sake. When you get a "Talk to my boss [or lawyer]", that is because the adjuster feels he needs the support and decision of others.

It is like with a traffic stop. The policeman doesn't need to know if the plates are good in order to write you a ticket, the cop needs to know if there are other issues at play with whomever may be in that car he just stopped. He needs to know if this is just a traffic stop, or he needs to approach the car with a hand on his gun, or if he needs to wait for backup, other cops to secure the situation from really dangerous people.

In your case, your adjustor doesn't need to make copies when they won't be needed or wanted. But if there is concern for the copy, then you will need to go through other channels to make sure that lawyers and managers are aware that this case will need extra attention.

Answer 6

If you gave a recorded statement to someone else's insurance carrier, they will not release the recorded statement to you without a court order.

It is protected by law, considered their "work product," and without a court order they will not release it to you or anyone else.

The answer to your question is NO.

Answer 7

They will probably give it to you if you ask for it.

If you get into litigation over the accident it will be turned over to your attorney during discovery.

Answer 8

No, they do not. But you can bring a tape recorder and record it for yourself.